officialwwefandomcom-20200214-history
Survivor Series (2011)
Survivor Series (2011) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE that took place on November 20, 2011 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It was the 25th Anniversary Survivor Series event and the first one to take place in Madison Square Garden since the 2002 event. Tickets were sold out in only 90 minutes. Seven matches were contested at the event, six of which were broadcast live on pay-per-view. The main events from this installment of Survivor Series would have a lasting effect on the next year in the WWE. In the main event from the Raw brand, The Rock, in his first match since WrestleMania XX in 2004, teamed with John Cena and defeated The Miz and R-Truth. The main event from the SmackDown brand saw Big Show defeat World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry by disqualification. In another predominant match on the card, CM Punk was victorious over Alberto Del Rio by submission to win the WWE Championship, a reign that would continue until on Royal Rumble on January 27, 2013 and become the sixth longest in the company's history. The event garnered 281,000 pay-per-view buys, up from 244,000 buys the previous year's event. Production Background The 2011 Survivor Series was hyped in New York by a huge fan interaction event outside of Madison Square Garden two days before the event, which included the first look at the new WWE '12 video game, a signing with CM Punk, and a performance from the band Oleander. The event was attended by over 16,000 WWE fans, including one who received two tickets to the sold out event by The Rock. Also in attendance were Zack Ryder and Jimmy Hart, who gave a bus tour of New York to 150 fans who won tickets via WWE.com in the weeks leading to the event. Storylines Survivor Series featured professional wrestling matches involving different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines that developed on WWE's television programs. Wrestlers portrayed villains or heroes as they followed a series of events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. The main event involved WrestleMania XXVIII opponents John Cena and The Rock teaming against the Awesome Truth (The Miz and R-Truth). After losing to Alberto Del Rio the previous month at Vengeance due to interference by The Miz and R-Truth, Cena decided to face both of them with Zack Ryder as his partner but Miz and R-Truth ambushed Ryder before the match, in which they beat Cena down. Former Interim General Manager John Laurinaitis booked Cena with a match against Miz and Truth at Survivor Series with a partner of his choice, with Cena choosing his WrestleMania XXVIII opponent, The Rock, as his partner. Billed as the most charismatic team of all time, The Rock accepted his offer the following week. Three months prior at SummerSlam, Alberto Del Rio cashed in his Money in the Bank contract against WWE Champion CM Punk to win the title. Punk got a rematch at Hell in a Cell but it was a Triple Threat match and John Cena was the champion going into the match. Punk requested to have another one-on-one rematch for the championship. Del Rio objected but accepted the challenge after Punk locked him into an Anaconda Vise. The event also included World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry defending his title against Big Show. The two had wrestled each other the previous month at Vengeance, but during the match the ring had collapsed, leaving both men unable to continue. A rematch was scheduled for Survivor Series, with a reinforced ring being set up. A Survivor Series elimination match pitting Team Orton, consisting of Randy Orton, Sheamus, Sin Cara, Mason Ryan, and Kofi Kingston, against Team Barrett, consisting of Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger and Hunico, was also scheduled for the event. Results *The lumberjills were: AJ Lee, Aksana, Alicia Fox, Brie Bella, Kaitlyn, Kelly Kelly, Maxine, Natalya, Nikki Bella, Rosa Mendes and Tamina. Other on-screen personnel See also * List of WWE pay-per-view events * Survivor Series Category:Survivor Series Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events Category:2011 Pay-Per-View Events